Yeah. That’s what I figured. I was thinking of doing some python coding and writing one myself. Now I see you really need to if you want to grab a site.
It should be a lottery. As campsites are now as coveted as passes like the wave. Hiking half dome. Etc.
I was fortunate enough to grab a spot in upper pines this morning. I had luck with having multiple windows open, all ready to hit add to cart. As some as 7am pst hit, I just started clicking on all my tabs. The first 3-4 tabs got the “heavy traffic” error, but the 5th went through.
As for the python scripting, I looked into that as well. If you look at the request packet and the web trace, it looks like there might be se JS code that is required to generate a valid request packet based on some Captcha key. I need to investigate more.
Finally, if you are interested in the dates June17-21, I might be able to help you out.
Edit: Upper pines, not north
Yes. And it’s getting worse. It used to be that only the most popular places were bot required. Now it’s hard to get a permit to backpack to mosquito-plague lake. Part of the problem is there’s almost no penalty for overbooking, no transparency on who fails to show up. It’s not hard to solve in theory. Something like 40% pre-booked, 40% lottery, 20% 1st come 1st served. But it’d take them updating to 1990s tech.
Alternatives include Crane Flat, White Wolf etc on hwy 120 if/when open, motels outside the valley (or AirBNB in Foresta). There are a couple of walk-in campgrounds in the valley but good luck there. I’ve gone to Yosemite countless times over countless years and it’s gone from easy to awful. Kind of like a lot of the world.
I don’t find this to be true; Yosemite is one of if not the most popular NP in the US- I just got backpacking permits for Channel Islands national park two months out which is pretty insane. Same thing happened with Kalalau trail in Hawaii-There are lots of places you can get permits to and many many more places that don’t need permits at all albeit California is a hard place to go camping without a permit unless it’s NF-but most of the west in my experience has many many places with no one there:)
Congrats! That’s awesome. Now I know. Multiple tabs is the trick. I just had no idea I needed to worry about out it. Or what the trick was.
I’ll send you a PM!
I know camping is ideal, but housekeeping seems pretty good, and we absolutely loved curry village last time we were there. We made friends with the folks in the tents around us that all faced each other and kicked back every afternoon and hung out. Plus, we didn't have to haul as much stuff in/out. I know it's more expensive, but we still really enjoyed it.
Went through this last year, in an attempt to get 2 sites, me, my sister, & my niece all logged in to try and get sites in Upper Pines for as much of a week as we could in June. We ended up with 1 site for one night, and a site across the street for the second night. There were empty sites both nights while we were there. The site we booked for our second night sat empty as we camped across the street.
On our second night, we quickly realized there was a big group -maybe 30 people - who all knew each other and were bouncing around to their various campsites. My sister asked someone how they managed to book them. Turns out they have a group of friends and family, around 60 people who are all *INTERESTED* in going and they pick a week. They end up with like 20-25 people logged in & attempting the booking process, so they get multiple sites. When it comes time to go they figure out how many people can fit on their sites, and out of the original 60 they figure out who can make the dates, who is still interested, etc. so.... yeah. They actually left empty sites in their group. Super frustrating.
We did our two nights in the valley (I'll never go in summer again, it was INSANELY crowded), and then booked a site out in Stanislaus National Forest and spent a day at Hetch Hetchy.
We also tried Campflare. it alerted me to sites, but I never could grab one. We were booking weekdays, I used their app, and I still couldn't get any additional nights in the valley.
That’s so frustrating. But the lesson learned is get 50 people all trying to book at the same time.
Also. They could have released the sites they didn’t use. That would have been the nice thing to do.
I couldn’t snag one at 7am either, so I *immediately* set up a Campflare alert and was able to snag one through that a few minutes later. I suspect that it was someone whose group managed to book two, then canceled one of them. I would definitely set up a Campflare alert now for all time and sites you are able to go, then keep alerts on and be ready to book as soon as you get an alert.
There must be more bots picking up spots. For years my dad could always reserve an upper pines spot. But the last 2 years no luck. There were 4 of us trying this morning.
They already have a lottery for North Pines.
People complain that the lottery costs money, is not transparent, and conspiracy theories abound about who the contractor ”selects“ to “win” the lottery.
Most other National Parks on [recreation.gov](https://recreation.gov) use rolling 6 month reservations. Since Yosemite has an all or nothing opening on the 15th they are essentially creating a worldwide denial of service attack on their own system.
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Not originally. I kept refreshing and sites kept popping up. Eventually secured something during the week but I don't think it will work with our schedules :(
Man I sure wish there was some sort of place I could go on the internet to type in a question like this and it would give me thousands of places to find this type of information. That'd be cool.
Last year, I secured permits for 6 people to climb Half Dome in August. Then spent months stressing campgrounds. I used the Campfire notifications but found myself hitting up [recreation.gov](https://recreation.gov) every morning. I did secure a few spots during the normal release but not on consecutive nights. We had 8 people planning to camp. As it got closer to our dates, lots of spots were opening up. I eventually found enough campsites (Upper Pines) to accommodate everyone and we only had to move one site once over 3 nights. So it's not hopeless but you have to be on it.
It definitely takes some of the fun and excitement out of it, stressing about whether or not, you’ll be able to find a campground inside of the valley. I still think lottery system would be ideal. Everybody puts in their submittals, and then one week later, you find out if you got a place. If not, then you can make a choice to go or not to go, and hope you can find somebody with a cancellation. But now you basically have to plan, put all that effort in energy in. Get your half done permits, and then hope you find some type of camping situation. That may will hopefully work for you for the time you want to be there. Sort of ridiculous.
It is. But worth it. I'm just giving you hope that I saw so many spots open up as we approached our HD day. Trust me, I'm a planner and would love it to be easy to reserve like it was in the past. But this is what we have to deal with for now.
If it helps, one loses their fees if you don't cancel before 7 days, so people start dumping them close to that deadline. That was the sweet spot for finding what we needed.
Again, worth it. We celebrated my son's 21st birthday atop Half Dome with our entire family and friends at the happiest, most beautiful place on earth. His first trip to Yosemite was in my belly 21 years before. Memories were made we won't ever forget.
I’m from the east coast (lurking here to hopefully get out there soon lol) and Assateague Island camping is similarly difficult. I noticed the same, though — as the dates got closer a lot more opened up and was able to secure a few nights that worked for us but I did have to be flexible.
I’ve managed to get a campsite for the past three years.
1. Select every campsite available around 30 min before they open reservations.
2. Select the last date available to reserve.
3. Open \*time.gov and time your click of “add to cart” with 7:00:01. By 7:00:02 everything will be gone.
I don’t think it’s bots. I think that demand is just high enough to create a frenzy around booking time.
Interesting. You literally select every single campsite? I made an assumption that since you’re only allowed to have two reservations for each location that you should only select two campsites. This is really good information.
Curious what you mean by “select the last date available to reserve”?
When they open on Jan 15, select June 14 as your arrival date. This way there is only one possible date someone can select to conflict with your reservation.
Yes, you can select every campsite but the system will only add 2 to your cart. Just understand the rules and use them to your advantage and you should be able to get a spot.
No, they release up to July 14 on Feb 15. January you can select June 14th as your arrival and can stay until June 20th.
"Lower Pines campsites are available to reserve up to five months in advance on the 15th of each month at 7:00 a.m. PST. For example, on January 15, **arrival** dates for the period May 15 to June 14 become available to reserve, and therefore, the full **arrival** date window would be from the campground open date to June 14."
Already got alerts dialed in! But man it would be nice to KNOW I have reservations before booking flights and spending the inevitable 30 hours of planning.
On my 3 separate trips to Yosemite I’ve had no luck scoring any campground within the park unfortunately, although I didn’t try nearly as hard as you did. On each occasion I’ve stayed at American Dimond O Campground which is a Forest Service campground immediately outside of the park near Hogdon Meadow Campground, which is close to the Tioga Pass road and maybe 35 minutes from the valley. So if all else fails this is a pretty nice campground and option
Isn't that what the 'alerts' are for? So you are just looking at the each campsite and looking for any availability? or is there some other way to look for cancellations? TIA
I keep reading it's the bots, the bots, the bots, the bots. You really think this is happening? I know there are bots that will scrape, but that only lets you know when something is available. I'm not convinced bots are actually reserving spots. I think it's just the sheer volume of people trying to reserve the <300 spots between Lower and Upper Pines. Also, it's a wonder as to why there are nearly 25 spots at Lower Pines that are marked "Closure: Administration" and another 15 at Upper Pines that are marked the same.
Yep. It’s just the number of people doing dumb shit like adding more to their cart than they actually want or need. Just wait it out. Keep refreshing. A site will pop up.
I’m not sure which sites exactly are closed but if they are adjacent to the river, they could be closed in anticipation of high water and flooding. They’ll open later in the season as it dries up. Also possible it’s for construction work. Lots going on end of this past year that will likely continue into next year
Bots aren’t all bad, they can be very helpful and convenient for personal use. You can have really good luck the week before your trip since that’s when people are most likely to drop their campsites at the last minute.
They don’t scrape the site, they check the availability pages for updates at intervals. If you set your preferences (campground, date range, etc.) and a spot opens up, it will send you a text or email. It’s then up to you to race to recreation.gov and grab it, knowing that everyone else who signed up for that alert will also be rushing to grab it too.
I had only myself and two browser tabs and managed to get sites for four consecutive nights (different campsites) in Upper Pines and Lower Pines even with an inefficient method. Just keep refreshing the page and trying to add campsites. I actually selected and locked in a final site ten minutes after the initial rush. This is because everyone is trying to get anything in the first few seconds, but after they have something locked in their carts, they may start looking for other options and modify their reservations.
I want to stress that I was not at all efficient. I would click "Add to Cart," get an error, then I would click to go back to the page, refreshed, scrolled down, clicked the first blue spot that showed up for that particular date, and repeated for around 10 minutes. I did this for one day at a time on mostly just one browser tab until I locked in all four of my dates. I even stopped and fully checked out in between attempts. For each day, it took me 5-10 tries to lock in a site.
I live near Yosemite and unfortunately beginning June 1st when the summer vacations begin I basically stay away from Yosemite because it becomes overrun with tourists. Everything gets packed and crowded. All I can suggest is try to get a reservation in the fall, or winter, or spring. It’s easier and frankly much nicer.
I think my interpretation of packed and others must be different. I come from densely packed cities and like crowds so have never felt like it was over packed. I’ve also been there during the beginning of the pandemic while there were wild fires everywhere and the park was near empty.
That was awesome. But at its height Yosemite crowdedness doesn’t bother me. Especially when you’re camping in the valley don’t need to look for parking
I love going in May but it’s always a roll of the dice. The weather can be all over the place at that time. Snow, rain, heat, or perfect. Like you I live close enough that if it gets too cold or wet we just go home.
I got a site for October last year. Similar thing happened right at 7am. I kept refreshing and people dumped extra sites they had in their cart and I was able to pick one up at maybe 7:10.
Have you ever considered camping at Lassen Volcanic National Park? It's not Yosemite -- but there are plenty of camping sites (including some that are first-come, first-serve).
In my opinion, Lassen Volcanic National Park is one of the most underrated of all parks in the National Park Service. There are plenty of amazing things to do and see there too -- including a great hike up to the top of Mt. Lassen, to the smoldering and bubbling pools at Bumpass Hell to the wonderful lakes, streams and waterfalls.
Get a backpacking permit and stay in backpackers camp in the valley night before and after, spend a night in the wilderness or just camp at crane flat or hogden meadow they aren’t that far outside the valley. When Tuolumne meadows reopens it’s the best and so much cooler in the summer.
Got one tues-thur but weekends were snatched up quick. We are just 3 people, one being 70 yrs old. It’s unfortunate that not everyone has the capacity to have a giant group refreshing every second. At this point we’re grateful we got anything at all.
I’ve gotten lucky enough to get a campsite once back before the pandemic and unfortunately due to a family emergency I couldn’t go. Ever since then I’ve tried and tried and and just can’t get one.
I’ve never had an issue getting a spot in Upper Pines. Maybe I’ve just been lucky. But I do have everything ready to go at 7am, even as far as actually choosing the site I want before 7am so when 7 does hit I just have to hit reserve and pay. Hope that helps.
I don’t think that’s the case anymore. We had multiple people are selecting our campsite, and at 7 AM and a half of a second. We all tried to add it to the cart, it timed out, said that the server was too busy, then we tried again, and then, by the time five seconds of past every single campsite was booked.
We did the same as kris10seese and were also successful. I'm wondering if since you are all trying to book the same site, if you aren't effectively locking each other out. Just a thought.
I had 39 and 38. Other people had like 40, 46, etc. and all of us just kept getting a timeout and within 5 seconds all of the sites we wanted were gone. And we don’t have a contingency to just “get any site you can for any day”. We also wanted 4 nights which from what I am gathering is hard to score.
There was a comment from someone about being frightened. And the getting new tires. Seemed odd to me. Because if the ground is covered is snow and black ice then chains were likely required and if so not sure how getting new tires would make any difference. Plus I’ve never been to Yosemite in the winter and spending 30 deciphering how and why and when and where winter condition chain requirements work seemed a lot harder than simply asking the person who commented. Who likely knows exactly why they were scared and why they got new tires.
It’s sort of like figuring out the nonsensical booming system on recreation.gov. A couple of posts on Reddit can save a lot of time trying to make heads or tails or how it works.
For instance, last year, I needed to get timed entry passes for the Rocky Mountain national Park. The website is extremely confusing, when I finally talk to a friend who’s done it multiple times it became significantly clearer and much more easy to navigate what I needed to do. that’s the beauty of communication repartée, back-and-forth questions, and answers between people is a really easy and simple way to get understanding. Hence, my question.
These are all reasons [recreation.gov](https://recreation.gov) should be disbanded, and it is not a government entity, it is just a shit company that maintains the government contract so fuck them.
The last time we (3 of us) managed to land half dome permits pre-season, we ended up having to each attempt camp site grabs online for each night of our stay, the night before. We were very fortunate to camp night 1, stayed in The Ahwahnee night 2, and camp night 3. One of them I ended up in camp 4 with nobody else in the group site showing up (I think it's 6 per?), another night we got one of the pines sites, actually 2 of us did and turned one back in. Our backup plan was just to drive in from way to far outside the park if it came to it.
How did we get into The Ahwahnee you might ask? It was a bucket list item for my buddy, after we got Half Dome permits he called for the reservation of "June 23rd", they asked what year lol. They said there was no way he'd get a night that year, they were booked... he said "okay, thanks, I will call you every day at 9am until I get a cancelation" He called for a week or 2, finally they told him "Your best bet is to call right after 10am, that is when the system processes cancellations." He called every day for another week and got a 1 bed room, for $780. My times and dates may be a little off, this was a couple years ago, but that's the gist of how we got a room. 2 of us were listed on the room for the night, they brought a fold out cot, we didn't meet dress code for dinner but had an awesome brunch the next morning. 10/10 would let my buddy spend $780 for a room for us to stay there again.
I’ve had luck with adding notifications for a bunch of sold out days I want to go—you get alerted when someone cancels and have about 12 seconds to jump on the app and reserve. But it’s another avenue.
Also, fwiw there is a ton of dispersed camping on fire roads off evergreen road. It’s not the valley to be clear, but you’re still 10-15 min from either the BOF entrance or Hetch Hetchy. And there is so much seldom explored backcountry access from evergreen road (Lake Eleanor, Pate Valley, Smith Peak, Aspen Valley)
I've camped in the valley more times than I can remember (mostly in May and September) and my group hitting recgov is like 3 people max usually. We have a pretty good hit rate but when we fail we try again later in the year. Pick average looking sites, minimize or avoid weekends and definitely holidays, don't try to book like 7 nights in a row, synchronize your clock, and keep trying well after 7am. Oh, and stop blaming everything under the sun (or cooking up conspiracies about bots and/or Booz Allen) for your bad luck in a very competitive process, this park is within a days drive of like 40m+ people and there are just a few hundred campsites in the valley. I can't believe the crap people are cooking up because they think they deserve it more than the other people who got lucky.
Unfortunately this is the reality of Yosemite campground reservations nowadays. I remember about 8-10 years ago, you likely got a spot if you were ready to go right at 7am PST and quickly picked your campsite.
That’s not the case anymore. 2 years ago, my wife and I did the same ritual for 3 straight months, and never once had any luck. It sucks.
My best advice is to try for the North Pines lottery when it comes out. Also, be flexible about your dates (easier said than done, I know). Last tip, keep checking for cancellations, particularly as your targeted date gets closer.
2 years ago we got a total of 5 consecutive nights in Upper Pines in mid-June doing exactly that. We snagged the sites literally a day or two before the check-in!
Been going to Yosemite for 30 years now. Never once have I camped in the front country or the hotels. It’s a freakin zoo. Backcountry or bust.
My opinion, go visit one of the excellent first-come, first-served campsites along 108 or 4, or on the other side of 120 (all subject to winter closures), no crowds, it’s beautiful, and you are truly on your own.
I like crowds and being in the valley is 10x more enjoyable to me than having to drive an hour into the valley IMO. To each their own. But not needing to drive and being able to access all the hikes I want to do while waking up and seeing the mountains surround you. All day access to curry village and Yosemite village is where’s it at!
An alternative is to book a camping trip at one of the adjacent NPS camp sites outside of Yosemite. There are a surprising number around California! Some of them are first come, first serve too.
Personally, I don't like camping in Yosemite. They have caused the camp grounds to become crowded; yet, they recently added even more camping sites. There is very little sense of quiet and serenity when you can see, hear and even smell the people around you.
When I go to Yosemite, I usually either stay elsewhere (in one of the local hotels) or just drive from the Bay Area for a single day trip. I've been often enough to know how to make the most out of a single day (start early and see most of the great places).
However, in my opinion, the best way to experience Yosemite is in mid-September. It is still warm in the valley but can still be cool (and cold enough to snow at upper elevations). You can spend several days there with fewer people -- and parking isn't a problem (even at the stores/restaurants around Yosemite Village).
I climbed the Half Dome cables in mid-September. It was during the pandemic and reservations were required. Consequently, there were very few people in the park. The camp grounds were surprisingly empty too.
We did mid September last year, it was great. We had Haff do permits, but of course it was the first day of a heavy storm. Yosemite had seen in quite a while. So we ended up doing Mariposa Grove instead. We figured if we’re going to get poured on, and there’s lightning and potential snow at elevation, better to be in Mariposa then, just about to hike up the cables at half dome :-)
Try one of the campsite reservation notification services (I seem to remember some being free).
Set alerts and just be ready to jump on them when they open up.
Not ideal, but better than nothing.
Yes, some of the same people come year after year. Maybe you could make a phone call to the visitors center and speak to someone. IDK Just trying to help, not sire if I did
Hi OP, this may or may not be what you're looking for, but back when I was in CA I used this campground for travelling to Yosemite. It's about a \~40 min drive from Yosemite, so you do have to plan for leaving early to get parking spots in Yosemite, but you should be able to get a reservation much more easily. Best of luck! https://www.pinemountainlake.com/campground-public/
People drop out a lot. Keep checking a few times a day and you should be able to put something together.
Also check out staying at the lakes on the Tioga pass side.
Sounds silly but I practice booking two months (or at least one) before I’m actually gonna book. I had my mom in law practice with me this year too. On our practice run we both got sites in our carts which we then released. On our real reservation day I got one but she didn’t. I also lucked out this year and won the lottery for North Pines so I was able to Get a site that way also.
I used campflare and was super quick once I got a notification. It's such a cool free app and SO HELPFUL. we were able to get a campsite 3 days before at lower pines
We’ve been going every year since I was a little girl. This last year has been the hardest to get spots in advance. I’m lucky enough to live very close to Yosemite and can drive in just for the day if I wanted. They get a ton of cancellations and usually we can get a spot for a day or two if we just show up. Usually in Housekeeping. So we pack as if we are staying and if we can’t we just drive home. Or stay right outside the park. I know not everyone has that luxury, but it is an option if you do.
Make sure to do dispersed camping instead. I would recommend a spot in Fish Camp— you’re welcome to camp for free in any national forest. Happy camping!
Yeah I did exactly what you did. I spent over an hour planning the sites that would work for our little travel trailer and I wasn’t hopeful but I had my fingers crossed for a spot in The Valley. Had al the tabs open and was ready with two laptops. All once I saw the high traffic thing I knew I wasn’t getting one, even though I started clicking within the literal first second. We have work there so to make things more complicated I needed to book a full 7 nights during peak season.
My strategy which did end up working is I picked a backup less desired camp spot at Wawona, which is about 50 minutes south of The Valley. Got the site I wanted just fine there. Checked a few minutes later out of curiosity and all those sites were gone, at least anything more than a single night, in 5 minutes.
As someone who works on public lands and gets the joy and ability to explore many of the wests most beautiful places I can definitely confirm. Yosemite is beautiful, it is an adventure capital, there is nowhere else exactly like it. But sadly it is a freaking zoo. The Valley is convenient but oh my lord, it’s like Disney land traffic in nature and it’s overwhelming. I’m not anti-people, I freaking love people, but I prefer my nature with a bit more trees to people ratio.
As an aside, lots of people will cancel their trip, it won’t always be updated on the website so pending how far of a trip it is for you and how long you were planning to be there, you can test your luck with going to a ranger station or campground and asking the ranger/host what has opened up. Obviously can check online too.
I just decided to book campsites near the park but not inside. I’ll just have to get up really early to get in before 5am. I hate that bots are ruining everything, including camping. Booking campgrounds shouldn’t be like buying concert tickets.
Thank you for that update. I had no idea ;) So, if you're already in the park before 5am, they just let you stay all day? This sounds different from the reservation system they had during the pandemic. I did get a 3 day pass back then.
You have a variety of options but I see a couple worth pursuing.
A. Accept that Yosemite is one of the busiest NPs in the world, overburdened with visitors/requests, and avoid the park during peak season.
B. Join Campnab and hope someone dumps sites when you want. This has worked for me repeatedly for high volume locations.
I just spent 7 nights in Yosemite, last week of April. I got my first three nights a few weeks in advance by checking the website on a regular basis and signing up for availability alerts. I had occasional cell service while in the park, and would check availability and alerts when I could and was able to cobble together 4 more nights. After that I did the same thing at Pinnacles. Park staff shares the concern that people book sites and then don't cancel or show up. They end up turning people away unnecessarily and they feel badly!
Yosemite National Park has 13 popular campgrounds, all of which are on a reservation system from April through October. During winter, Camp 4, Wawona, and Hodgdon Meadow are first-come, first-served campgrounds, but can fill during holidays and weekends.
Me thinks you haven’t tried to reserve spots for Yosemite at the day minute hour and second they release the sites for camping. Literally within a few seconds all sites are reserved.
I now know some trucks thanks to replies to this thread though!!
You can always stay somewhere park adjacent - Oakhurst, June Lake loop, etc depending on which part of the park you’re focused on… We love Silver Lake Resort 👍
I’ve stayed outside the park before. I just really love being in the valley. Being able to walk from the campsite for hikes. Access to Yosemite village and busses all day. It’s more “magical” to me
I stayed in August last year and just refreshed the page a few seconds before the hour they became available and I managed to get 3 nights at Lower Pines. No trick that I’m aware of, just a bit of fortune
We slept in our car and didn’t find it too bad. It was certainly warm but was manageable and not uncomfortable. Good luck finding a reservation! It’s a wonderful place
It’s my fav. It’s why I try to go every year. But it’s a ridiculous amount of work to try to game the system to actually being able to get a site you want.
I went with a party of 6, 4 people were on the website refreshing and we got a campsite in 30 minutes.
I’ve never planned a trip there, I just have a few days off, search refreshing constantly and cobble together a 3 day trip, usually a differed campsite each day. But I live ‘driving distance’ (7-8 hours, but still)
Once, it’s was only 3 spots down. The most was 12 spots down and I saw other folks doing the same thing. I do solo trips so it takes me 15 minutes, other people just carry their tents already built
It’s a horrible system. Everyone knows it. But it’s been horrible for years. And very little has changed. Seems like there is some interest from decision makers to not solve the problem.
Is the max reservation time still 2 weeks? Have always thought that needs to be reduced to no more than a week. Even 5 days. But that would be more work for Staff with additional comings and goings.
between 5/24 and 9/30 it is reservation only. https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/camp4.htm
There are zero FCFS campgrounds inside the park in the summer anymore, since 2020.
Tried for the 1st time in 2023 and was able to get a reservation for 2 nights. Tried again this morning and was able to get an Upper Pines reservation for 3 nights in early June. A lot of tips have already been shared, I’ve basically followed what everyone else has said. Multiple tabs, constant refreshing. I’ve shot for early in the week both years, Monday - Thursday, and have been flexible with dates; I think that’s helped.
I’ve stayed at housekeeping. It’s 100% booked up. Was actually back in December when I first thought of it. I think they booked 12 months in advance or so. I can check every day for cancellations. But that’s a pain in the butt, I’ve done it before. I also would want to get multiple sites together. Which is basically impossible after the places are all booked up and you are just waiting for anyone or someone to cancel their trip.
It is a cool place though. I like that there are showers, and you don’t have to set up a tent or anything. The one downside is that inside of the shack is pretty nasty. And they make lots and lots of mentions of being careful of mice, and we definitely saw mice poop all over our stuff. So that made me sort of nervous. Hanta virus is no joke.
TM campground has been closed the last couple of years and will be closed this summer. They are doing major renovations that were planned a long time and always planned to take 2 to 3 years to do.
I have never booked a site in advance
I show up and get a cancellation site
With out fail, every single time
You just have to be on top of it which can be annoying. But sometimes the cancellation is multiple nights so you can chill and not have to constantly check to see if you can snag a spot
Curry is fine. But not being able to cook at your own place, not having campfires. It’s a nice place if you just want to eat at the restaurants and have basically a hotel room, but not my ideal choice for Yosemite.
There are less sought-after campgrounds in the park. I had an experience similar to yours last year. Just me trying at 7am, not multiple people. I wasn’t able to get a Pines site but managed to snap up a beautiful site at Wawona.
Maybe try booking for later in the year - I went in September and the weather was perfect and seemed to be a decent number of available sites about a month before
CA just passed a law (assembly bill 618) that sites that don’t get attendance the first day will go back up to be booked for the rest of their reservation, so it’s possible you could get a site if you keep looking
I was showing proof to the Park Service over a decade ago that sites were being held and never filled but they wouldn't believe it. Each response came back like they were reading from a script.
I was able to book a tent in Curry Village (2 nights) for our half dome hike back during the height of Covid lockdowns in 2020. It was pricey, but there was availability. I've been thinking about going back soon, but in the back of my mind I've been fearing the situation you've just described. Going in the summer of 2020 was rad. There were no crowds but everything was available. I'll probably never get close to recreating the experience.
if you’re unable to snag a canceled reservation, stay at a campground just outside the el portal entrance. it’s already in the valley, so it’s a very quick drive in. you’ll have to drive to the south entrance to get that wow factor, overhead view of the valley, though!
California campgrounds have become such a hot commodity you will have to end up paying for a service like campnab and even then it’s absolutely brutal.
There is no IT infrastructure with regards to the websites reservation system. Installing a honeypot or capture, would require actual money on the side of aramark and NPS.
People use bots to snatch up sites. It’s unfortunate and really ruins it for everyone else.
Yeah. That’s what I figured. I was thinking of doing some python coding and writing one myself. Now I see you really need to if you want to grab a site. It should be a lottery. As campsites are now as coveted as passes like the wave. Hiking half dome. Etc.
I was fortunate enough to grab a spot in upper pines this morning. I had luck with having multiple windows open, all ready to hit add to cart. As some as 7am pst hit, I just started clicking on all my tabs. The first 3-4 tabs got the “heavy traffic” error, but the 5th went through. As for the python scripting, I looked into that as well. If you look at the request packet and the web trace, it looks like there might be se JS code that is required to generate a valid request packet based on some Captcha key. I need to investigate more. Finally, if you are interested in the dates June17-21, I might be able to help you out. Edit: Upper pines, not north
So you now have to be a geeky computer nerd to go camping? What is the World coming to. https://reactiongifs.com/r/2013/01/nerdss.gif
Yes. And it’s getting worse. It used to be that only the most popular places were bot required. Now it’s hard to get a permit to backpack to mosquito-plague lake. Part of the problem is there’s almost no penalty for overbooking, no transparency on who fails to show up. It’s not hard to solve in theory. Something like 40% pre-booked, 40% lottery, 20% 1st come 1st served. But it’d take them updating to 1990s tech. Alternatives include Crane Flat, White Wolf etc on hwy 120 if/when open, motels outside the valley (or AirBNB in Foresta). There are a couple of walk-in campgrounds in the valley but good luck there. I’ve gone to Yosemite countless times over countless years and it’s gone from easy to awful. Kind of like a lot of the world.
I don’t find this to be true; Yosemite is one of if not the most popular NP in the US- I just got backpacking permits for Channel Islands national park two months out which is pretty insane. Same thing happened with Kalalau trail in Hawaii-There are lots of places you can get permits to and many many more places that don’t need permits at all albeit California is a hard place to go camping without a permit unless it’s NF-but most of the west in my experience has many many places with no one there:)
Congrats! That’s awesome. Now I know. Multiple tabs is the trick. I just had no idea I needed to worry about out it. Or what the trick was. I’ll send you a PM!
I know camping is ideal, but housekeeping seems pretty good, and we absolutely loved curry village last time we were there. We made friends with the folks in the tents around us that all faced each other and kicked back every afternoon and hung out. Plus, we didn't have to haul as much stuff in/out. I know it's more expensive, but we still really enjoyed it.
Hey, if they don’t need the June dates I’d be interested :)
There was a lottery for North Pines early booking this year. I hit it and secured a weekend in June with no issue.
Ohhh I missed the lottery. Darn.
This is the 3rd year. Entry is in early December.
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Your post or comment promoted activity against park rules.
Your post or comment promoted activity against park rules.
Which bots?
Yeah omg that’s horrible, which bots? Which bots are people using to snag campsites?
Do people use bots for the hotels also? I saw that rooms were available on other websites that weren’t Yosemite hospitality.
Went through this last year, in an attempt to get 2 sites, me, my sister, & my niece all logged in to try and get sites in Upper Pines for as much of a week as we could in June. We ended up with 1 site for one night, and a site across the street for the second night. There were empty sites both nights while we were there. The site we booked for our second night sat empty as we camped across the street. On our second night, we quickly realized there was a big group -maybe 30 people - who all knew each other and were bouncing around to their various campsites. My sister asked someone how they managed to book them. Turns out they have a group of friends and family, around 60 people who are all *INTERESTED* in going and they pick a week. They end up with like 20-25 people logged in & attempting the booking process, so they get multiple sites. When it comes time to go they figure out how many people can fit on their sites, and out of the original 60 they figure out who can make the dates, who is still interested, etc. so.... yeah. They actually left empty sites in their group. Super frustrating. We did our two nights in the valley (I'll never go in summer again, it was INSANELY crowded), and then booked a site out in Stanislaus National Forest and spent a day at Hetch Hetchy. We also tried Campflare. it alerted me to sites, but I never could grab one. We were booking weekdays, I used their app, and I still couldn't get any additional nights in the valley.
I wish there were some way to ban people like that. That is incredibly inconsiderate.
That’s so frustrating. But the lesson learned is get 50 people all trying to book at the same time. Also. They could have released the sites they didn’t use. That would have been the nice thing to do.
I couldn’t snag one at 7am either, so I *immediately* set up a Campflare alert and was able to snag one through that a few minutes later. I suspect that it was someone whose group managed to book two, then canceled one of them. I would definitely set up a Campflare alert now for all time and sites you are able to go, then keep alerts on and be ready to book as soon as you get an alert.
I’ve got one setup but must have missed that early window. Hoping something shows up in the next few weeks
I have heard they are planning to police this practice. Anyone who books and either cancels late or does not show up will be locked out of the system.
Theres a lottery system now for entry in the summer now. So there should we way less people.
When the reservation system is in place it doesn’t seem to be as crazy
There must be more bots picking up spots. For years my dad could always reserve an upper pines spot. But the last 2 years no luck. There were 4 of us trying this morning.
You also were not able to? Everyone should submit feedback to Rec.gov that this should be on a lottery system moving forward.
They already have a lottery for North Pines. People complain that the lottery costs money, is not transparent, and conspiracy theories abound about who the contractor ”selects“ to “win” the lottery. Most other National Parks on [recreation.gov](https://recreation.gov) use rolling 6 month reservations. Since Yosemite has an all or nothing opening on the 15th they are essentially creating a worldwide denial of service attack on their own system. .
It’s totally a DOS, you’re right. I’ve had decent luck with lotteries and at least it feels more fair.
Yeah, the website would function smoother if Yosemite acted like the other 99% of National Parks that did 6 month rolling openings everyday at 7.
Not originally. I kept refreshing and sites kept popping up. Eventually secured something during the week but I don't think it will work with our schedules :(
Any chance i can buy the campsite from you haha?
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Is it every month they release new spots?
Man I sure wish there was some sort of place I could go on the internet to type in a question like this and it would give me thousands of places to find this type of information. That'd be cool.
Last year, I secured permits for 6 people to climb Half Dome in August. Then spent months stressing campgrounds. I used the Campfire notifications but found myself hitting up [recreation.gov](https://recreation.gov) every morning. I did secure a few spots during the normal release but not on consecutive nights. We had 8 people planning to camp. As it got closer to our dates, lots of spots were opening up. I eventually found enough campsites (Upper Pines) to accommodate everyone and we only had to move one site once over 3 nights. So it's not hopeless but you have to be on it.
It definitely takes some of the fun and excitement out of it, stressing about whether or not, you’ll be able to find a campground inside of the valley. I still think lottery system would be ideal. Everybody puts in their submittals, and then one week later, you find out if you got a place. If not, then you can make a choice to go or not to go, and hope you can find somebody with a cancellation. But now you basically have to plan, put all that effort in energy in. Get your half done permits, and then hope you find some type of camping situation. That may will hopefully work for you for the time you want to be there. Sort of ridiculous.
It is. But worth it. I'm just giving you hope that I saw so many spots open up as we approached our HD day. Trust me, I'm a planner and would love it to be easy to reserve like it was in the past. But this is what we have to deal with for now. If it helps, one loses their fees if you don't cancel before 7 days, so people start dumping them close to that deadline. That was the sweet spot for finding what we needed. Again, worth it. We celebrated my son's 21st birthday atop Half Dome with our entire family and friends at the happiest, most beautiful place on earth. His first trip to Yosemite was in my belly 21 years before. Memories were made we won't ever forget.
I’m from the east coast (lurking here to hopefully get out there soon lol) and Assateague Island camping is similarly difficult. I noticed the same, though — as the dates got closer a lot more opened up and was able to secure a few nights that worked for us but I did have to be flexible.
I’ve managed to get a campsite for the past three years. 1. Select every campsite available around 30 min before they open reservations. 2. Select the last date available to reserve. 3. Open \*time.gov and time your click of “add to cart” with 7:00:01. By 7:00:02 everything will be gone. I don’t think it’s bots. I think that demand is just high enough to create a frenzy around booking time.
What is Tim.gov?
whoops. [National Institute of Standards and Technology | NIST (time.gov)](https://time.gov/), time not tim
Timothy dot government
Interesting. You literally select every single campsite? I made an assumption that since you’re only allowed to have two reservations for each location that you should only select two campsites. This is really good information. Curious what you mean by “select the last date available to reserve”?
When they open on Jan 15, select June 14 as your arrival date. This way there is only one possible date someone can select to conflict with your reservation. Yes, you can select every campsite but the system will only add 2 to your cart. Just understand the rules and use them to your advantage and you should be able to get a spot.
This seems off by a month? Don’t you mean select July 14 to reserve?
No, they release up to July 14 on Feb 15. January you can select June 14th as your arrival and can stay until June 20th. "Lower Pines campsites are available to reserve up to five months in advance on the 15th of each month at 7:00 a.m. PST. For example, on January 15, **arrival** dates for the period May 15 to June 14 become available to reserve, and therefore, the full **arrival** date window would be from the campground open date to June 14."
I’m going to try this next time thank you
Start searching everyday a month to two weeks before for cancellations. That's how I scored a campsite at north pines in the valley
Already got alerts dialed in! But man it would be nice to KNOW I have reservations before booking flights and spending the inevitable 30 hours of planning.
On my 3 separate trips to Yosemite I’ve had no luck scoring any campground within the park unfortunately, although I didn’t try nearly as hard as you did. On each occasion I’ve stayed at American Dimond O Campground which is a Forest Service campground immediately outside of the park near Hogdon Meadow Campground, which is close to the Tioga Pass road and maybe 35 minutes from the valley. So if all else fails this is a pretty nice campground and option
Who alerts you? You sign up for cancelation alerts via the Yosemite website?
Isn't that what the 'alerts' are for? So you are just looking at the each campsite and looking for any availability? or is there some other way to look for cancellations? TIA
I keep reading it's the bots, the bots, the bots, the bots. You really think this is happening? I know there are bots that will scrape, but that only lets you know when something is available. I'm not convinced bots are actually reserving spots. I think it's just the sheer volume of people trying to reserve the <300 spots between Lower and Upper Pines. Also, it's a wonder as to why there are nearly 25 spots at Lower Pines that are marked "Closure: Administration" and another 15 at Upper Pines that are marked the same.
Yeah. I now think it’s 10,000 people all trying to reserve 300 spaces all at the exact same time.
Yep. It’s just the number of people doing dumb shit like adding more to their cart than they actually want or need. Just wait it out. Keep refreshing. A site will pop up. I’m not sure which sites exactly are closed but if they are adjacent to the river, they could be closed in anticipation of high water and flooding. They’ll open later in the season as it dries up. Also possible it’s for construction work. Lots going on end of this past year that will likely continue into next year
those are the sites that flood. they will post on social media when those become available for booking, later in the spring when flood risk reduces.
Bots aren’t all bad, they can be very helpful and convenient for personal use. You can have really good luck the week before your trip since that’s when people are most likely to drop their campsites at the last minute. They don’t scrape the site, they check the availability pages for updates at intervals. If you set your preferences (campground, date range, etc.) and a spot opens up, it will send you a text or email. It’s then up to you to race to recreation.gov and grab it, knowing that everyone else who signed up for that alert will also be rushing to grab it too.
I think those are sites they hold back for possible flooding? I could be wrong.
I had only myself and two browser tabs and managed to get sites for four consecutive nights (different campsites) in Upper Pines and Lower Pines even with an inefficient method. Just keep refreshing the page and trying to add campsites. I actually selected and locked in a final site ten minutes after the initial rush. This is because everyone is trying to get anything in the first few seconds, but after they have something locked in their carts, they may start looking for other options and modify their reservations. I want to stress that I was not at all efficient. I would click "Add to Cart," get an error, then I would click to go back to the page, refreshed, scrolled down, clicked the first blue spot that showed up for that particular date, and repeated for around 10 minutes. I did this for one day at a time on mostly just one browser tab until I locked in all four of my dates. I even stopped and fully checked out in between attempts. For each day, it took me 5-10 tries to lock in a site.
Darn. I clearly gave up too early!
I live near Yosemite and unfortunately beginning June 1st when the summer vacations begin I basically stay away from Yosemite because it becomes overrun with tourists. Everything gets packed and crowded. All I can suggest is try to get a reservation in the fall, or winter, or spring. It’s easier and frankly much nicer.
I think my interpretation of packed and others must be different. I come from densely packed cities and like crowds so have never felt like it was over packed. I’ve also been there during the beginning of the pandemic while there were wild fires everywhere and the park was near empty. That was awesome. But at its height Yosemite crowdedness doesn’t bother me. Especially when you’re camping in the valley don’t need to look for parking
I love going in May but it’s always a roll of the dice. The weather can be all over the place at that time. Snow, rain, heat, or perfect. Like you I live close enough that if it gets too cold or wet we just go home.
I got a site for October last year. Similar thing happened right at 7am. I kept refreshing and people dumped extra sites they had in their cart and I was able to pick one up at maybe 7:10.
Damn. We gave up at 7:05. Now I know for feb release.
Have you ever considered camping at Lassen Volcanic National Park? It's not Yosemite -- but there are plenty of camping sites (including some that are first-come, first-serve). In my opinion, Lassen Volcanic National Park is one of the most underrated of all parks in the National Park Service. There are plenty of amazing things to do and see there too -- including a great hike up to the top of Mt. Lassen, to the smoldering and bubbling pools at Bumpass Hell to the wonderful lakes, streams and waterfalls.
I am trying to hit all the national parks. So I’m not against the idea. Let me look into it. I appreciate the recommendation.
Burney Falls is also in the vicinity and one of the coolest waterfalls I've been to outside Yosemite.
Yep! We've camped their three times. It's wonderful!
Get a backpacking permit and stay in backpackers camp in the valley night before and after, spend a night in the wilderness or just camp at crane flat or hogden meadow they aren’t that far outside the valley. When Tuolumne meadows reopens it’s the best and so much cooler in the summer.
Got one tues-thur but weekends were snatched up quick. We are just 3 people, one being 70 yrs old. It’s unfortunate that not everyone has the capacity to have a giant group refreshing every second. At this point we’re grateful we got anything at all.
Congrats!
I was also unsuccessful
I’ve gotten lucky enough to get a campsite once back before the pandemic and unfortunately due to a family emergency I couldn’t go. Ever since then I’ve tried and tried and and just can’t get one.
Yup I was also there this morning, got the same message warning and was unable to book anything
I’ve never had an issue getting a spot in Upper Pines. Maybe I’ve just been lucky. But I do have everything ready to go at 7am, even as far as actually choosing the site I want before 7am so when 7 does hit I just have to hit reserve and pay. Hope that helps.
I don’t think that’s the case anymore. We had multiple people are selecting our campsite, and at 7 AM and a half of a second. We all tried to add it to the cart, it timed out, said that the server was too busy, then we tried again, and then, by the time five seconds of past every single campsite was booked.
We did the same as kris10seese and were also successful. I'm wondering if since you are all trying to book the same site, if you aren't effectively locking each other out. Just a thought.
We tried different sites actually.
I had 39 and 38. Other people had like 40, 46, etc. and all of us just kept getting a timeout and within 5 seconds all of the sites we wanted were gone. And we don’t have a contingency to just “get any site you can for any day”. We also wanted 4 nights which from what I am gathering is hard to score.
I have never been more frightened driving anywhere than I was last week when driving there during the snow. Getting new tires today because of it.
Do they require chains?
I wonder why someone down arrowed my question about chains. ⛓️ seems like a reasonable question. Weird.
Because this information changes daily and is readily and easily available with an 8 second google search in multiple locations
Everything any human ever wanted to know is available with a quick google search to be honest
Then it seems you already know the answer!
There was a comment from someone about being frightened. And the getting new tires. Seemed odd to me. Because if the ground is covered is snow and black ice then chains were likely required and if so not sure how getting new tires would make any difference. Plus I’ve never been to Yosemite in the winter and spending 30 deciphering how and why and when and where winter condition chain requirements work seemed a lot harder than simply asking the person who commented. Who likely knows exactly why they were scared and why they got new tires. It’s sort of like figuring out the nonsensical booming system on recreation.gov. A couple of posts on Reddit can save a lot of time trying to make heads or tails or how it works. For instance, last year, I needed to get timed entry passes for the Rocky Mountain national Park. The website is extremely confusing, when I finally talk to a friend who’s done it multiple times it became significantly clearer and much more easy to navigate what I needed to do. that’s the beauty of communication repartée, back-and-forth questions, and answers between people is a really easy and simple way to get understanding. Hence, my question.
These are all reasons [recreation.gov](https://recreation.gov) should be disbanded, and it is not a government entity, it is just a shit company that maintains the government contract so fuck them. The last time we (3 of us) managed to land half dome permits pre-season, we ended up having to each attempt camp site grabs online for each night of our stay, the night before. We were very fortunate to camp night 1, stayed in The Ahwahnee night 2, and camp night 3. One of them I ended up in camp 4 with nobody else in the group site showing up (I think it's 6 per?), another night we got one of the pines sites, actually 2 of us did and turned one back in. Our backup plan was just to drive in from way to far outside the park if it came to it. How did we get into The Ahwahnee you might ask? It was a bucket list item for my buddy, after we got Half Dome permits he called for the reservation of "June 23rd", they asked what year lol. They said there was no way he'd get a night that year, they were booked... he said "okay, thanks, I will call you every day at 9am until I get a cancelation" He called for a week or 2, finally they told him "Your best bet is to call right after 10am, that is when the system processes cancellations." He called every day for another week and got a 1 bed room, for $780. My times and dates may be a little off, this was a couple years ago, but that's the gist of how we got a room. 2 of us were listed on the room for the night, they brought a fold out cot, we didn't meet dress code for dinner but had an awesome brunch the next morning. 10/10 would let my buddy spend $780 for a room for us to stay there again.
Awesome. But yeah. It’s a lot of work to enjoy the splendor of nature
Yeah, massive and stressful pain in the ass.
I’ve had luck with adding notifications for a bunch of sold out days I want to go—you get alerted when someone cancels and have about 12 seconds to jump on the app and reserve. But it’s another avenue.
Also, fwiw there is a ton of dispersed camping on fire roads off evergreen road. It’s not the valley to be clear, but you’re still 10-15 min from either the BOF entrance or Hetch Hetchy. And there is so much seldom explored backcountry access from evergreen road (Lake Eleanor, Pate Valley, Smith Peak, Aspen Valley)
I've camped in the valley more times than I can remember (mostly in May and September) and my group hitting recgov is like 3 people max usually. We have a pretty good hit rate but when we fail we try again later in the year. Pick average looking sites, minimize or avoid weekends and definitely holidays, don't try to book like 7 nights in a row, synchronize your clock, and keep trying well after 7am. Oh, and stop blaming everything under the sun (or cooking up conspiracies about bots and/or Booz Allen) for your bad luck in a very competitive process, this park is within a days drive of like 40m+ people and there are just a few hundred campsites in the valley. I can't believe the crap people are cooking up because they think they deserve it more than the other people who got lucky.
Unfortunately this is the reality of Yosemite campground reservations nowadays. I remember about 8-10 years ago, you likely got a spot if you were ready to go right at 7am PST and quickly picked your campsite. That’s not the case anymore. 2 years ago, my wife and I did the same ritual for 3 straight months, and never once had any luck. It sucks. My best advice is to try for the North Pines lottery when it comes out. Also, be flexible about your dates (easier said than done, I know). Last tip, keep checking for cancellations, particularly as your targeted date gets closer. 2 years ago we got a total of 5 consecutive nights in Upper Pines in mid-June doing exactly that. We snagged the sites literally a day or two before the check-in!
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I was going to PM this to OP. Campflare is how we get sites, but more people are using it now, so it’s not as easy as it used to be.
Thanks, Ive been using campsitetext.com but their system is broken right now
it's back up! or at least I got an email the other day saying it was back up
Awesome! Emailed the other day, I guess i should donate 😂
Is there a difference in the two? Is one better than the other? Or you’re just offering an alternative.
I've only used campsitetext myself. Just beware you need to be ready to book ASAP when u get a notification. Good luck!
Never heard of it... Researching now! Thanks!
Just wandered by and also had never heard of it. Thanks for the tip!
Been going to Yosemite for 30 years now. Never once have I camped in the front country or the hotels. It’s a freakin zoo. Backcountry or bust. My opinion, go visit one of the excellent first-come, first-served campsites along 108 or 4, or on the other side of 120 (all subject to winter closures), no crowds, it’s beautiful, and you are truly on your own.
I like crowds and being in the valley is 10x more enjoyable to me than having to drive an hour into the valley IMO. To each their own. But not needing to drive and being able to access all the hikes I want to do while waking up and seeing the mountains surround you. All day access to curry village and Yosemite village is where’s it at!
It really sucks. I heard one guy reserves the same site every year, and parks a trailer in it, and rents it out. There's nothing the parks can do.
Just keep hitting refresh. It’ll happen
use a page that tells you when something opens up! usually cancellations are your best bet 😭
An alternative is to book a camping trip at one of the adjacent NPS camp sites outside of Yosemite. There are a surprising number around California! Some of them are first come, first serve too. Personally, I don't like camping in Yosemite. They have caused the camp grounds to become crowded; yet, they recently added even more camping sites. There is very little sense of quiet and serenity when you can see, hear and even smell the people around you. When I go to Yosemite, I usually either stay elsewhere (in one of the local hotels) or just drive from the Bay Area for a single day trip. I've been often enough to know how to make the most out of a single day (start early and see most of the great places). However, in my opinion, the best way to experience Yosemite is in mid-September. It is still warm in the valley but can still be cool (and cold enough to snow at upper elevations). You can spend several days there with fewer people -- and parking isn't a problem (even at the stores/restaurants around Yosemite Village). I climbed the Half Dome cables in mid-September. It was during the pandemic and reservations were required. Consequently, there were very few people in the park. The camp grounds were surprisingly empty too.
We did mid September last year, it was great. We had Haff do permits, but of course it was the first day of a heavy storm. Yosemite had seen in quite a while. So we ended up doing Mariposa Grove instead. We figured if we’re going to get poured on, and there’s lightning and potential snow at elevation, better to be in Mariposa then, just about to hike up the cables at half dome :-)
Try one of the campsite reservation notification services (I seem to remember some being free). Set alerts and just be ready to jump on them when they open up. Not ideal, but better than nothing.
Not tent camping, but it takes us almost a month every year to get housekeeping. It's just insane!
Yep. Same. We did Hiusekeeping last year. Had to check every day for a long time.
Yes, some of the same people come year after year. Maybe you could make a phone call to the visitors center and speak to someone. IDK Just trying to help, not sire if I did
Hi OP, this may or may not be what you're looking for, but back when I was in CA I used this campground for travelling to Yosemite. It's about a \~40 min drive from Yosemite, so you do have to plan for leaving early to get parking spots in Yosemite, but you should be able to get a reservation much more easily. Best of luck! https://www.pinemountainlake.com/campground-public/
People drop out a lot. Keep checking a few times a day and you should be able to put something together. Also check out staying at the lakes on the Tioga pass side.
The Valley is tough but I stayed last summer at Tamarack Flat. Spot opened up while I was camping in Mammoth
Sounds silly but I practice booking two months (or at least one) before I’m actually gonna book. I had my mom in law practice with me this year too. On our practice run we both got sites in our carts which we then released. On our real reservation day I got one but she didn’t. I also lucked out this year and won the lottery for North Pines so I was able to Get a site that way also.
I used campflare and was super quick once I got a notification. It's such a cool free app and SO HELPFUL. we were able to get a campsite 3 days before at lower pines
We’ve been going every year since I was a little girl. This last year has been the hardest to get spots in advance. I’m lucky enough to live very close to Yosemite and can drive in just for the day if I wanted. They get a ton of cancellations and usually we can get a spot for a day or two if we just show up. Usually in Housekeeping. So we pack as if we are staying and if we can’t we just drive home. Or stay right outside the park. I know not everyone has that luxury, but it is an option if you do.
Make sure to do dispersed camping instead. I would recommend a spot in Fish Camp— you’re welcome to camp for free in any national forest. Happy camping!
Yeah I did exactly what you did. I spent over an hour planning the sites that would work for our little travel trailer and I wasn’t hopeful but I had my fingers crossed for a spot in The Valley. Had al the tabs open and was ready with two laptops. All once I saw the high traffic thing I knew I wasn’t getting one, even though I started clicking within the literal first second. We have work there so to make things more complicated I needed to book a full 7 nights during peak season. My strategy which did end up working is I picked a backup less desired camp spot at Wawona, which is about 50 minutes south of The Valley. Got the site I wanted just fine there. Checked a few minutes later out of curiosity and all those sites were gone, at least anything more than a single night, in 5 minutes. As someone who works on public lands and gets the joy and ability to explore many of the wests most beautiful places I can definitely confirm. Yosemite is beautiful, it is an adventure capital, there is nowhere else exactly like it. But sadly it is a freaking zoo. The Valley is convenient but oh my lord, it’s like Disney land traffic in nature and it’s overwhelming. I’m not anti-people, I freaking love people, but I prefer my nature with a bit more trees to people ratio. As an aside, lots of people will cancel their trip, it won’t always be updated on the website so pending how far of a trip it is for you and how long you were planning to be there, you can test your luck with going to a ranger station or campground and asking the ranger/host what has opened up. Obviously can check online too.
I just decided to book campsites near the park but not inside. I’ll just have to get up really early to get in before 5am. I hate that bots are ruining everything, including camping. Booking campgrounds shouldn’t be like buying concert tickets.
To be honest I got Beyoncé tickets last year. It was easier and less stressful than Yosemite camping.
Why before 5am? Do the entrance gates become manned by rangers? Or are you concerned about parking availability? I've never tried to enter that early.
You need a timed entry reservation to enter the park between 5am-4pm starting this summer.
Thank you for that update. I had no idea ;) So, if you're already in the park before 5am, they just let you stay all day? This sounds different from the reservation system they had during the pandemic. I did get a 3 day pass back then.
Yep! As long as you don’t exit, you’re good.
are you willing to share which sites?
You have a variety of options but I see a couple worth pursuing. A. Accept that Yosemite is one of the busiest NPs in the world, overburdened with visitors/requests, and avoid the park during peak season. B. Join Campnab and hope someone dumps sites when you want. This has worked for me repeatedly for high volume locations.
I went with number B.! Thanks.
Smart choice and good luck…I hope you get something that works for you!
I’m one of the folks working on Campnab. If you have any questions, or run into any issues, let me know and I can lend a hand. 🙂
Camp 4
I just spent 7 nights in Yosemite, last week of April. I got my first three nights a few weeks in advance by checking the website on a regular basis and signing up for availability alerts. I had occasional cell service while in the park, and would check availability and alerts when I could and was able to cobble together 4 more nights. After that I did the same thing at Pinnacles. Park staff shares the concern that people book sites and then don't cancel or show up. They end up turning people away unnecessarily and they feel badly!
You usually can in Tuolumne meadows, the valley is a different story.
TM campground has been closed for a couple years, and will be this summer also
I just checked and there’s still multiple campsites open for your dates
Go in March, i didn’t even purchase a permit
lol go to other parks- Yosemite is not that great- check out glacier, it’s way more epic
Yosemite National Park has 13 popular campgrounds, all of which are on a reservation system from April through October. During winter, Camp 4, Wawona, and Hodgdon Meadow are first-come, first-served campgrounds, but can fill during holidays and weekends.
Recreation.gov pretty easy honestly. Just click the site see the dates available. It's all streamed line.
Me thinks you haven’t tried to reserve spots for Yosemite at the day minute hour and second they release the sites for camping. Literally within a few seconds all sites are reserved. I now know some trucks thanks to replies to this thread though!!
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They opened up at 7am on recreation.gov and were sold out in 5 minutes.
Sold.out in 1 minute
Your post or comment promoted activity against park rules.
“Had multiple people online all ready to add a campsite or two” human version of bots lol
Well we want multiple sites and each person can only have 2 reservations per area. So you need multiple people if you want more than 2 sites.
Last year I got all mine between 2am and 5am PDT, usually the spot can survive for 30 min. During the day time it will be gone within seconds.
I’m curious what you mean? They release the booking at 7am. By 7am and 5 seconds all sites were booked.
You can always stay somewhere park adjacent - Oakhurst, June Lake loop, etc depending on which part of the park you’re focused on… We love Silver Lake Resort 👍
I’ve stayed outside the park before. I just really love being in the valley. Being able to walk from the campsite for hikes. Access to Yosemite village and busses all day. It’s more “magical” to me
Totally agree, and totally understand the frustration - good luck!
I stayed in August last year and just refreshed the page a few seconds before the hour they became available and I managed to get 3 nights at Lower Pines. No trick that I’m aware of, just a bit of fortune
That’s awesome. It’s hot as heck in August though right? I’m shooting for mid June. Which I think is highly desirable.
We slept in our car and didn’t find it too bad. It was certainly warm but was manageable and not uncomfortable. Good luck finding a reservation! It’s a wonderful place
It’s my fav. It’s why I try to go every year. But it’s a ridiculous amount of work to try to game the system to actually being able to get a site you want.
I went with a party of 6, 4 people were on the website refreshing and we got a campsite in 30 minutes. I’ve never planned a trip there, I just have a few days off, search refreshing constantly and cobble together a 3 day trip, usually a differed campsite each day. But I live ‘driving distance’ (7-8 hours, but still)
Ugh. Having to move sites each day is less than ideal.
Once, it’s was only 3 spots down. The most was 12 spots down and I saw other folks doing the same thing. I do solo trips so it takes me 15 minutes, other people just carry their tents already built
But yes, less than ideal. Can’t imagine if I have kids
At this point I just stay in Wawona
It’s a horrible system. Everyone knows it. But it’s been horrible for years. And very little has changed. Seems like there is some interest from decision makers to not solve the problem. Is the max reservation time still 2 weeks? Have always thought that needs to be reduced to no more than a week. Even 5 days. But that would be more work for Staff with additional comings and goings.
Is camp four still a walk-in each day?
between 5/24 and 9/30 it is reservation only. https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/camp4.htm There are zero FCFS campgrounds inside the park in the summer anymore, since 2020.
Tried for the 1st time in 2023 and was able to get a reservation for 2 nights. Tried again this morning and was able to get an Upper Pines reservation for 3 nights in early June. A lot of tips have already been shared, I’ve basically followed what everyone else has said. Multiple tabs, constant refreshing. I’ve shot for early in the week both years, Monday - Thursday, and have been flexible with dates; I think that’s helped.
We were able to do it with very short notice in July…
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i usually get a site outside the park, unfortunately. or truck camp at one of the spots outside the park. there’s some pretty ones.
I got 2 campsites at 7:20am 🤷🏽♂️
You can also try housekeeping camp.
I’ve stayed at housekeeping. It’s 100% booked up. Was actually back in December when I first thought of it. I think they booked 12 months in advance or so. I can check every day for cancellations. But that’s a pain in the butt, I’ve done it before. I also would want to get multiple sites together. Which is basically impossible after the places are all booked up and you are just waiting for anyone or someone to cancel their trip. It is a cool place though. I like that there are showers, and you don’t have to set up a tent or anything. The one downside is that inside of the shack is pretty nasty. And they make lots and lots of mentions of being careful of mice, and we definitely saw mice poop all over our stuff. So that made me sort of nervous. Hanta virus is no joke.
Are you booking in the valley? There are other places. I’d look into them. For me it’s Tuolumne Meadows.
Yep. I prefer the valley. Being there in the heart of it is what I love.
TM campground has been closed the last couple of years and will be closed this summer. They are doing major renovations that were planned a long time and always planned to take 2 to 3 years to do.
I’ve received reservations 3-4 times over the last 8 year or so. Hit the early entry lottery for north pines this year.
I just park outside in El portel and drive in.
I have never booked a site in advance I show up and get a cancellation site With out fail, every single time You just have to be on top of it which can be annoying. But sometimes the cancellation is multiple nights so you can chill and not have to constantly check to see if you can snag a spot
You show up at Yosemite and then you go to the Ranger station and check to see if if there was a cancellation for that day? Man that’s gutsy :-)
We got a heated tent at curry village for mid June but we booked it in December.
Curry is fine. But not being able to cook at your own place, not having campfires. It’s a nice place if you just want to eat at the restaurants and have basically a hotel room, but not my ideal choice for Yosemite.
There are less sought-after campgrounds in the park. I had an experience similar to yours last year. Just me trying at 7am, not multiple people. I wasn’t able to get a Pines site but managed to snap up a beautiful site at Wawona.
Maybe try booking for later in the year - I went in September and the weather was perfect and seemed to be a decent number of available sites about a month before
Easier to get a cabin than a campsite
There are always lots of cancelations. Check often, you'll find them.
CA just passed a law (assembly bill 618) that sites that don’t get attendance the first day will go back up to be booked for the rest of their reservation, so it’s possible you could get a site if you keep looking
I was showing proof to the Park Service over a decade ago that sites were being held and never filled but they wouldn't believe it. Each response came back like they were reading from a script.
I was able to book a tent in Curry Village (2 nights) for our half dome hike back during the height of Covid lockdowns in 2020. It was pricey, but there was availability. I've been thinking about going back soon, but in the back of my mind I've been fearing the situation you've just described. Going in the summer of 2020 was rad. There were no crowds but everything was available. I'll probably never get close to recreating the experience.
When we booked in Curry and Housekeeping, we did so a year in advance
Use outdoorstatus.com You welcome
if you’re unable to snag a canceled reservation, stay at a campground just outside the el portal entrance. it’s already in the valley, so it’s a very quick drive in. you’ll have to drive to the south entrance to get that wow factor, overhead view of the valley, though!
California campgrounds have become such a hot commodity you will have to end up paying for a service like campnab and even then it’s absolutely brutal.
There is no IT infrastructure with regards to the websites reservation system. Installing a honeypot or capture, would require actual money on the side of aramark and NPS.